Welcome to the website of the COHAB Initiative (Co-Operation On Health And Biodiversity), an international programme of work on human well-being and sustainable development.
The COHAB Initiative works to establish an international, inter-disciplinary collaborative framework to support activities on community health, international development and biodiversity conservation, and to support the implementation of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity and the Millennium Development Goals. It provides a global forum for all stakeholders to share experiences, discuss needs and opportunities, build capacities and develop new partnerships.
Biodiversity, through the provision of ecosystem goods and services, provides the basis for all life on earth. This includes the support base for all of our economic and social activities, for community and business development, social welfare, and health. Species of animals and plants have always been important as sources of food, fuels, medicines, clothing and building materials, while ecosystems provide and maintain supplies of clean water, healthy soil and clean air. However, this is frequently taken for granted in an increasingly developed and globalised world.
Truly sustainable development must incorporate all areas of human activity and our interactions with the environment, and therefore requires that social, economic, public health and environmental needs be resolved holistically. In order to fully achieve sustainable progress - whether at local, national, regional or international levels - policy makers, scientists, stakeholders and the wider public must work to integrate a multitude of otherwise distinct disciplines. |
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